DECEMBER 10, 2005
KING'S USES LATE SURGE TO OVERTAKE ADRIAN, 78-68 IN MONARCH CLASSIC
TITLE GAME
WILKES-BARRE -- Jamie Cousart scored 22 points, hauled in 12 rebounds,
dished out eight assists, and made four steals to capture most valuable
player honors as the host King's College men's basketball team used a
late-game surge to post a 78-68 victory over Adrian College in the
championship game of the Ramada Inn/Monarch Classic.
With the win, King's improved to 5-6 while Adrian slipped to 4-5.
Adrian controlled much of the first-half play and built its biggest lead
at 25-17 on a bucket by Brandon Giles with 5:09 left in the opening
stanza. King's would whittle away at the lead and closed to within 31-30
at the break when Cousart converted a traditional three-point play with
0:30 remaining.
In the second half, Adrian would increase the lead to 40-36 with 14:40
remaining when Giles and Billy Collins, Jr. sandwiched three-pointers
around a foul shot by Ian Weber.
King's would go on a 17-4 run and took a 53-44 with 9:03 remaining
thanks to seven points from Bob Nenstiel and four from John Soboleski.
Adrian would answer with a 11-1 spurt and took a 55-54 lead with 6:35
left after eight consecutive points from Giles. The teams would trade
leads seven times while the score was tied four additional times over
the next four minutes.
With Adrian holding a 66-65 lead after Giles made one-of-two foul shots,
took the lead for good when Thomas Moore drained a three-pointer with
1:28 left to give the Monarchs a 68-66 advantage. After a Adrian
turnover, Cousart was fouled and made both charity tosses with 1:01 on
the clock to give King's a 70-66 lead.
Jeff Nokovich was fouled on the inbound pass and made would make a pair
of foul shots for the Bulldogs to cut the margin to 70-67 as no time ran
off the clock. Kofi Dwebeng then scored on a lay-up off a pass from
Cousart to push the lead to 72-68 with 0:50 left. After an Adrian miss,
Nenstiel was fouled on the rebound and made both free throws to give
King's a 74-68 lead with 0:38 on the clock.
Cousart would close out the contest by making four straight foul shots
for King's to conclude a 6-0 game-ending spurt.
Scalzo was also named to the all-tournament after posting 16 points.
Nenstiel added 12 points and 14 rebounds in just his second game at
King's after transferring from Division II Bloomsburg University. Shawn
Swim came off the bench to score 10 points, all in the first half.
Dwebeng chipped in with seven points.
Adrian was led by Giles who earned all-tournament team honors after
totaling 26 points, including five three-pointers. Mike Reinhard added
12 points while Nokovich followed with 11 points, six assists, and five
rebounds. Collins, Jr., who also received all-tournament honors, chipped
in with 10 points, four rebounds, and three assists.
Gettysburg defeated Susquehanna 68-61 in the consolation game.
Mike Spadafora of Gettysburg and Susquehanna's
Matt Effler were both named to the all-tournament team.
